Rnul and V2_ Investigate Thermal Camera

Artist duo Rnul and V2_ are researching the tracking potential of the thermal camera. Rob Donkers and Aart Muis of Rnul and Artm Baguinski of V2_Lab have spent the past week testing the tracking ability of a thermal camera in places including outdoor spaces and V2_’s exhibition room.

The research flows from a Rnul project that has been under way for about a year. The project is meant to highlight the contrast between the intensive use of social websites and the anonymity of walking through cities. By using a projection on the ground to connect people in a public square, Rnul hopes to provoke reactions from passersby.

The biggest problem they have faced so far has been getting a video camera to register the projection. Thus, they are currently looking into using a thermal camera. “The advantage is that only warmth is visible and not every moving object,” Rnul says. “The disadvantage is that when the sun comes out, certain places warm up or reflect heat, and the thermal camera has trouble with that.”

Rnul does not yet know when the project will be finished or where it will be exhibited. Both will depend partly on the number of other projects running in parallel and whether the camera could be used in one of those projects. Asked why they’re working with V2_ on the research, they say, “We’ve exhibited several times here, they have the knowledge and the space, and maybe we can work together again later in the project.”